73 Responses to “A long-gone brewery in Staten Island”

I remember looking down on the remains of these buildings from the old 103 Hylan Boulevard bus in the early 1960s. About 15 minutes into its 45 minute trek from St. George to Tottenville at the southern tip of Staten Island, the bus would pull up out of Stapleton onto Hylan Boulevard and on to a slightly elevated vantage point that afforded a good view of the old brewery.

The buildings were demolished sometime in the early 2000’s to make way for townhouses.
They sat at the intersection of Broad St. and Vanduzer St. For many years, a bar called The Caves operated out of the old brewery. Fun place, crazy times.

I bet these were the beer caves behind Demyan’s Hofbrau. when i was in the delta nu fraternity at wagner in the 1960’s we opened these caves up as the owners were honorary brothers and fond of we young lunatics and we had some of the greatest parties ever in them.

Hi, I appreciate your time for answering my question. I found a bottle on the beach and I was wondering if you could tell me how old it is. It is a 12 1/2 oz green bottle. It has the letters R & H on one side and on the other it has an emblem with a crown. Around the bottom rim it says Rubsam & Horrmann Brewing Co New York.

I tried to research it myself but had no luck. I really appreciate your time.

Hi, I too have a beer bottle. Green, maybe 10/12 oz., wire holding a cermamic top. Bottle and top have Rubsam and Horrmann Brewing Co. Staten Island NY. Top also has RH, one on top of the other, in the middle. Back has This Bottle Not to be Sold. There are no chips or cuts, wire holding top is 100% in tact. I can’t find any infomation about value. If needed, I can sent photos. Thank you.

i was digging up a foundation wall at my home dated from 1954 and found a beer can inside the wall, the name was easy to read. Rubsam & Horrmann Brewing co. Internal Revenue Tax Paid. I thought it was funny.

Can you tell me if Piels Beer was sold in small glass barrel shaped brown bottles? My husband and I remember that but others say no…Piels was only made and sold in cans. I appreciate your help in this.

I purchased the house opposite the brewery at the bottom of the hill @ Gordon St. in 2000. The builder/owner of the house made his fortune repairing the brewery trucks and I have a 5-Truck garage on my property!

I was digging where they built some new homes. I dug up a few bottles bearing “Rubsam & Horrmann” Brewing Company Stapleton SI…Registered 1889. Actually, I dug up alot of other bottles as well from other Brewerys. All the bottles are intact. I am interested in selling some and donating some to a historical society of some kind. Can you give any suggestions?
Thanks
Dan

I remember the foul smell from the R & H and later Piels brewery from the playground of PS 14 on Tompkins Ave. The brewery closed in the early 1960s. I am now living in Texas used to live on Targee St near Laurel Ave

I have fond memories of the strong smell of the Piels beer walking by the brewery on the way “downtown” in the 1950’s. There was a turkey farm opposite P.S. 14. I also lived on Targee at Young Street. There was an animal feed store opposite the brewery.

Wow! Dave, I can still smell the foul stench. I lived just around the corner from the brewery. Grove and Hygia. Played in the truck parking lot where the old ice house used to be, next to the old playground. Went to Immaculate Conception, late 50’s early 60’s. Played “hot beans are ready” at the courthouse. Climbed Hormann’s Hill, great view of Piels.

Hi Barbara, happy you saw my post. Dominick was my grandfather. Joey was my uncle. How is your mom doing? Hope all is well.
My mom lived on Targee also. Do not know the address. Between the courthouse and Frean street. Had some lion statues out front of the house. Maybe your mom remembers the Iannatto family. Hope you see this response soon. Perhaps I can find you on facebook. Love to talk with you.

I just received some things of my grandfather, who used to live on Staten Island, and one of them is a shiny metal beer bottle opener, engraved with “R&H BEER-ALE”. Does someone know when they made these? I know this opener goes back at least to 1940.

[…] When the company dropped the campaign, the beer’s popularity plunged too. After taking over a few other local breweries, Piel’s sold itself to a Michigan brewer and bid Brooklyn good-bye in 1973. Advertisement […]

I have three brown bottles with a R & H Bock beer label all of which are sealed and full of beer. From the other comments posted who expressed an interest in the value of such bottles, was anyone able to determine a value?

Paul Steffen, Plattsburgh, NY
April 10, 2012
R & H really got around. While in Casablanca, Morocco in 1954, I drank a can of R&H beer at the American Bar. I knew that the brewery was closed since I lived on Staten Island until 1952. When underage, I remember drinking R&H several times, thought it tasted pretty good.
Not the end of the story. I got stationed in Plattsburgh in 1975. While fly- fishing in the Saranac River in Morrisonville, I found a green R&H bottle partially buried in the sand. My father had never seen a bottle like this and he lived on the island since 1928.
Does anyone have any more information other that that which I have just read?teepee@primelink1.net

My dad used to tell stories about working at a food store next to the brewery…..maybe an A&P…seems the guys on night shift would bring sandwich makings and the guys from the brewery fresh beer…they’d meet in the ally & eat…

My father in law worked for an advertising agency (commercial artist) and we just came across an advertisement poster he did the art work on for R&H breweries which prompted me into looking up the name. Poster is in great shape.

Hi Frank – that’s really neat that a family member did some artwork for R&H. I would enjoy seeing a picture of the advertisiment poster to see if I have seen it before (I collect R&H beer stuff). I can provide my email address… Thanks Mike

My grandfather was a supervising brewer at the R&H brewery. I visited the brewery often as a kid. Grandpa would put a pair of giant rubber boots on me and let me tag along as he would check on the fermentation of the brew in huge vats. The employees had a small bar in the heart of the plant and I was seated on the bar and was always given a small glass of beer to drink with the guys. My favorite place of the brewery was the bottling area where empty bottles rattled along a conveyor, were filled, capped and dropped in cases- really noisy. At the rear of the brewery was their electrical generating facility. This building was immaculate; you could eat from the floor! I recall the racket of the shiny red generators producing electricity for the plant. The executives of the brewery had a beautiful private bar painted with typical German hunting murals and there was also lots of hand carved woodwork. I hope the backbar and handcarved swinging door to the men’s room were saved during demolition. My grandfather drank one bottle of R&H weekly at Sunday dinner. I remember that it had a skunky odor and was a strong beer. It was called Rotten and Horrible by lots of people, but was still drunk with gusto.
My folks and grandparents lived on the side of the hill above Stapleton just below August Horrmann’s beautiful castle. I guess I’m one of the few people around who can say that I was actually in the castle for a Christmas open house in the forties.
There’s a bar in Tottenville with loads of R&H memorabalia. I gave them some trays and coasters years ago.
The pungent smell in Stapleton was a normal product of fermentation – I liked it! If you ever brew your own beer, this yeasty smell will fill your basement.
The R&H brewery provided work for many men in Stapleton beacause it was in operation round the clock. Even bigger than R&H was the Bechtel brewery, whose last remainining brick building had an inscription at the top and was on Broad Street at Van Duzer. I now live in S.C. so I’m not sure if it’s still there. I was a class of ’54 graduate of Immaculate and have millions of memories of pre-projects Stapleton.

I remember going to a park with swings, it might have been a school yard and seeing the old brewery that was abandoned at the time (1967). I lived in the projects at 212 Broad street and often walked past the vacant building while walking with my mother to the stores in Stapleton. My last memory of the building was running past it in 1986 when I was running the Stapleton Steeple chase and came in second place. I was amazed that the building was still standing. I left Staten Island in 1981 when I joined the USMC and live in SD CA. My mother gave me a Coster with the brewery logo a few years ago and it is displayed in my bar inside my home along with other vintage beer signs.

My grandfather was supervisor of the shipping end of the business. I remember my parents saying they had their wedding reception in a hall at the brewery that the owners allowed employees family to utilize for such events. They were married in 1943 just before my dad shipped out with the navy during WWII. My mom lived on Hudson Street, my Dad lived on Hylan when they met. Moved to Levittown on Long Island in 1947. I still have a boatload of relatives living on Staten Island. Sounded like simpler times and workjers that were appreciated, how times have changed.

An update on my previous letter. Hopefully someone could give me some information on the green glass R&H bottle. I still hae the bottle and thus far found on one who has a replica. The can of R&H beer I drank in Casablanca in 1954 had to be several years old. It still tasted pretty good. After I retired, I was ofice manager of a beer distributor. I was with a regional rep when I first had a bottle of icy cold unpasteurized beer. It was a treat, tasted much better than the final product. I’m speaking of Stroh’s beer, at this time brewed in Pennsylvania.
My new E mail address is paulsteffen1934@yahoo.com

Rubsam & Horrmann Brewery in Stapleton was our playground growing up in Stapleton 1960s & 70s. We knew every nook and cranny of those buildings. Before R&H it was Atlantic and of course Piels bought it in the 50s. I loved that clock I used to see it everyday from My House. I too remember the foul stench when they used to brew. Stapleton was one of the greatest neighborhoods on Staten island in the 60s and early 70s before it’s demise.

I grew up in rosebank,but stapleton was my hang out in 50 and 60s.i had my car serviced at billottis service station on Tompkins ave.i hung out with guys named bobby prestal,jackie ryan,ronnie scron,ed gerkens,who would be my best man at my wedding in 58.that is just a few of the names I remember,i live in florida now,but the 50s I will never forget.working setting pins at park row bowling alley for joe dondyand madalones.also working in the paper factory in rosebank.well I just hit the age of 77,hope some of the guys are still around,had some good drinkers theni went under the name of [fafo]real name matt iacovelli.if there is anyone that remembers me from bowling or hanging out in park let me no thanks

My maiden name was Rosalie Donnelly..I will be 73 in August..Jackie Ryan, I believe had a cousin named Barbara Armstrong. We both lived on Broad St., I lived near PS 14; she over Mackauers Garage. My brothers were Dennis, Micky and Terry and John.. I also live in Florida…in Ormond Beach, near Daytona.. I went to Curtis HS..did you know Edie Strofield?
Rosalie Donnelly Bernstein

matty iacovelli says:yes your right Jackie did live on broad st.i live in st pete for over 30 yrs now.i may no you.do you remember bobby Prestel,he had a sister named Barbara.jackie I believe live near firhouse and remember miss petes grocery store right next to firehouse?i remember mackauers garage,i went around the corner to sams service station,i also worked at dejongs on Tompkins ave,it was a big paper factory near train tracks.well it was nice to hear from you.keep in touch……………matty iacovelli

Hi, Ed,
I assume you are the Eddy I went to Immaculate with, class of ’54.
If so, give me a reply. I’d like to see if you have any news of our old classmates.. I’m retired and living in Bluffton (Hilton Head Island), SC.

My dad, Lawrence Nolde, was sent by Piels Brewery after the R&H purchase to Staten Island to coordinate delivery schedules with those of Piels. This was a killer commute for Dad as we lived in Lynbrook on Long Island.